The Defense of Erlenberg
by TheGreatHetzer
Summary: A Jagdtiger 88 finds himself in the battle of Erlenberg, fighting to defend the city. Will he succeed, or will he perish in the fabled waters of Derpenberg? [ONESHOT]


The Jagdtiger 88 stood atop a hill, looking down on the depression below. The town of Erlenberg lay under his gunsights, the town he was sworn to defend. His position covered the bridge, as well as the other side of the river. On that other side he could see the large castle, a sure-fire camping spot for enemy tank destroyers. His team was rather well split up it seemed, most of the mediums and heavies were flanking up the left side, while a few TDs were guarding the arty back on the right. He was joined on the hill by an Indien Panzer, whose 88mm gun poked through the bushes alongside the massive hunting tiger.

"_Contact, sector J4. Contacts are AT 15 and T34." _An ally called out over the radio. The Jagdtiger turned its hull towards the contacts, and laid its sights on the AT 15s side. The enemy tank moved so that it was partially hidden behind a building, but its side was exposed to the long Pak 43 gun of the tiger. Finally, the TD had a chance to prove its worth. The cannon boomed, sending an 88mm shell right into the side of the enemy tier 8. The British behemoth tried to find the source of the shell, allowing the Jagdtiger to fire another shot. This one slammed into the soft gun mantlet, punching right through and damaging the gun.

"_Trouble, we've got an SU-122-54 up on the castle!" _A friendly T95 yelled out. The allies attempting to push scurried to cover, depending on the support of the hill tankers. The Jagdtiger certainly did not let them down. The 88mm gun roared again, sending another two shells into the soft mantlet of the AT 15. This time, however, the enemy found the Jagdtiger. The enemy gun fired, the shell whizzing above the tiger. The tiger fired in response, but this time luck was not on his side. The shell bounced, as did the second. The AT 15 fired again, striking the thrick armor of the hull and bouncing off. The two giants exchanged fire for several seconds, each failing to penetrate the other. Then the AT 15 succeeded. A shell finally found its way in, punching right through the lower plate of the hunting tiger. The Jagdtiger fell back behind a house, and noticed something.

On the opposite side of the town, the TDs were having a hard time. A Ferdinand was struggling against a King Tiger and Super Pershing, as well as a normal Pershing. The Jagdtiger turned its hull to face the enemies, and fired a shell through a gap in the buildings. The shell slammed into the KTs side, doing moderate damage. Unlike the AT 15, the enemy heavy quickly retreated into full cover. This allowed the Ferdi to fire at least three shots into the Super Pershing. The ally Indien Panzer quickly caught on, and soon lay right beside the Jagdtiger, sniping away. Artillery finally woke up, and managed to land a damaging hit on the King Tiger. The same occurred for the Pershing, who was now an easy one shot for the tiger.

With the right side seemingly taken care of, the Jagdtiger turned its attention to the left again. When he looked through his gunsights, he spotted a juicy target. A T34 stood, fully exposed for him to shoot. The PaK 43 zeroed in, and let loose a shell. It hit the T34 in the side, doing moderate damage. Another shell followed, then another. The T34 was not even paying attention to the Jagdtiger, as it was preoccupied with a T95. The T95 got in the final shot, ending the T34 with a BANG. No sooner had that happened than the AT 15 backed up, right into the aim of the Jagdtiger. A shell slammed into the severely damaged TD, finally causing it to explode. With resistance cleared, the heavies and TDs continued over the bridge.

With no targets in sight, the Jagdtiger looked around. He noticed that the bridge was relatively undefended, so he decided to change positions. He moved out from cover, and slowly dragged his weight across the hill. Around halfway, a shell whizzed above him. The Jagdtiger's instincts kicked in, and he immediately reversed down the hill. As he waited, he look a look at the map. His team was losing on the other side of the river, and the right flank probably wouldn't last much longer.

"_Need some assistance at the castle!" _Shouted the T95. The Jagdtiger pulled up over the hill, trying to get a visual on what was stopping his allies. Nothing. He had to pull up more, which meant leaving the safety of the hill. He had to do it. The massive TD rushed downwards, and took up a position behind a house. Now he could see it. It was an SU-122-54, a big threat. Taking aim, he fired over the houses. The shell glanced off the SU, which didn't even flinch. The tiger remained undetected, and fired again. This shot was lucky. The shell punched through the tier 9 TD's armor, causing it to fall back. His rangefinder had been hit, as well as his gun. He wasn't as much of a threat now, and the T95 was about to take care of him.

He then rotated right, and poked his gun out of the side of a building, facing the right flank. The Ferdi was dead, and the Indien Panzer was hurting. The medium fell back, being chased by a T69. Then another T69 appeared, poking the front of his tank out of a street. It was just enough to allow the Jagdtiger to take a shot. The Pak 43 boomed again, the shell slamming into the side of the enemy tank and killing it. No more than 30 seconds passed before the Super Pershing, who was also a rolling one-shot, did the same. The deadly German TD took aim, the first shot tracking his opponent. The T26E4 looked around and spotted the tiger, firing in futility. The 90mm shell simply bounced off, doing no damage. The Jagdtiger responded quickly, putting a killing blow right into the side.

The Jagdtiger started to take fire from an unseen enemy, so it pulled back behind the safety of the building. A 105mm shell whizzed past, which meant one thing. It was the Tiger II. Knowing the slowness of the Tiger II, the Jagdtiger aimed its gun up towards the hill that used to be its cover. The Indien Panzer was dead, and the T95 would take quite some time to get to him. Luckily, the opposite side of the river was neutralized. Finally, the curious little T69 poked its turret over the hill. The Jagdtiger was waiting, and instantly fired its 88mm gun. The shell whizzed and screamed through the air, smacking the medium in the turret and punching right through. The American backed up, and didn't come back out. Then there was a problem.

The Tiger II was detected, a mere 40 meters away. He was coming right for him. The Jagdtiger tried to poke his head out and fire, but instead received a penetrating hit from the Tiger II. The hunting tiger backed up, in a way that he could cover both sides of the building. If the Tiger wanted a kill, he would have to come from one way. Seconds passed. Finally, the impatient Tiger II came out from around a corner. The waiting Jagdtiger didn't even give the heavy a chance to aim, and quickly finished off the damaged tank with a shell to the side. Three enemy tanks left.

Looking over the hill, the Jagdtiger noticed the T69 had come out again. He was speeding down the hill, probably attempting a ram. Idiot. The Jagdtiger put another round into him, and drove forward in a counter charge. The two tanks collided at full speed, doing slight damage to the Jagdtiger and destroying the T69. The enemy team still had an undamaged IS-3, as well as a heavily damaged M26 Pershing. The Pershing was close by. The Jagdtiger stood in its place, waiting for the Pershing. Waiting… waiting… waiting… there it was. The Pershing was completely unsuspecting. Its turret was facing the wrong direction, and the tank was driving directly towards the Jagdtiger. The 88mm gun showed no mercy, slamming into the hull of the medium and ending it. One enemy left.

"_I NEED HELP HERE!" _Yelled the T95. The IS-3 was behind him, popping 122mm shells into his sides and rear. The Jagdtiger couldn't get a clean shot, which cost him. The T95 finally died, leaving the Jagdtiger alone. Just then, he had a plan. The Jagdtiger headed through the town, trying to avoid detection. If he could draw the IS-3 into open ground while he was in cover, he would definitely win. He couldn't afford to take a damaging shot though, he was already in bad shape. The Jagdtiger finally got into position, and waited. He was good at waiting.

The IS-3 was smarted than he had thought. Instead of coming around from the front, the heavy flanked via the right flank bridge. The Jagdtiger realized the silence meant something, and moved at the right moment. As he pulled out, he just so happened to turn and face the bridge. The IS-3 came from the opposite side, and stopped to fire. The shell struck the Jagdtiger dead center, dealing a great deal of damage. Track broken, viewfinder hit, gas tank leaking, he was dead. One more hit was all he needed. The IS-3 smirked, and picked up speed. He was going to ram the Jagdtiger. As he crossed the bridge, the Jagdtiger fired one last shot in desperation. That shot counted most of all.

The shell slammed right into the left drive sprocket of the IS-3, while the heavy was at full speed. The momentum caused the Russian to veer off to the left, and careened into the bridge railing. The tank busted right through them, and fell of the bridge. It landed in the river with a loud splash, and quickly sank to the bottom. The waters of Erlenberg had claimed another victim.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading, please leave a review! Believe it or not, this is based off of a battle I had last night in my Jagdtiger 8.8. <strong>


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